U.S. issues terror warning for bin Laden’s death anniversary

Days before the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death, U.S. authorities are concerned about possible “lone wolf” terrorists who may use the date to avenge the former Al-Qaida leader’s death, Fox News is reporting.

They have not seen any specific, credible threats to the U.S. homeland, Fox reports, but in an intelligence bulletin issued late Wednesday:

… the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Northern Command note that terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab in Somalia, Northern Africa’s Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the Pakistani Taliban have called for revenge against the United States for killing bin Laden during the May 1, 2011, raid on his hideout in Pakistan.

The bulletin says Al Qaeda or its affiliates would view an attack “on this anniversary as a symbolic victory,” especially in the wake of losses suffered by Al Qaeda through U.S. drone attacks and other efforts overseas.

Osama bin Laden, the former al-Qaida leader who masterminded the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was killed May 1, 2011, during a raid by Navy SEALs on his hideout in Pakistan, the Associated Press reported.

Bin Laden had been the world’s most-wanted terrorist for nearly a decade, since 9/11. In May 2011, the long and often-frustrating manhunt ended with a nighttime assault by a helicopter-borne special operations squad on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was shot dead by one of the raiders, and within hours his body was buried at sea.